Joe Satriani / Hairless guitar man is all about the music

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, August 11, 2002

Guitar virtuoso and Epic recording artist Joe Satriani, 46, has just released his eighth studio album, "Strange Beautiful Music." A master of his instrument since age 14, he has instructed the likes of Metallica's Kirk Hammett and Counting Crow's David Bryson, toured with Mick Jagger and Deep Purple, and established himself as a Grammy-nominated solo instrumental artist.

He spoke to us at his San Francisco home. Satriani plays tonight at the Chronicle Pavilion in Concord.

Q: Why don't any girls ever come to your shows?

A: It's funny. That's a dynamic that changes. As soon as we leave the country, from South America to Eastern Europe it seems like it's a completely mixed audience. But by the time we get to England it's more just the guys who play guitar. And when we come back to the States it's all that. When people ask me if I got into music to meet girls, I say, "You obviously haven't been to one of my shows." But I'm hoping because we're playing amphitheaters this summer we'll get both sexes coming out.

Q: Are you trying to tell me you didn't pick up the guitar for sex?

A: No. I'm just one of those guys who fell in love with music at a really early age. I was never confused about what I liked about music. I just liked it.

Q: How many people have you taught to play the guitar?

A: Well, I started teaching when I was still going to high school. My mother was a schoolteacher, so I thought it should be easy to do because we had teaching supplies in the basement. I had a reputation from playing in school bands and park fairs. That's where I met Steve Vai. We went to the same high school, and he was one of my first students. I just continued to do that. When I moved out to California, I started teaching at this guitar store in Berkeley, and that's where I met Kirk Hammett and David Bryson and the rest of those guys.

Q: When you hear a band like Strokes do you want to call them and offer free lessons on how to play their instruments?

A: Well, it's funny you would pick them out, because they sound pretty refreshing. The odd thing about musical talent is that it doesn't really progress with coordination. The errors that drive me crazy are the ones like (in) that No Doubt song ("Hella Good"). They're in the wrong key, and that bugs me. They've got all this support from this great pool of talent, they've got all this money, everything is set up for them to do this right, and then you hear a vocal line singing a melody that doesn't mix with the chord progression. That's something you would tell your student right away. But I've given up that stuff. I shouldn't even be talking to you about that because people will think I'm nuts. It's terrible.

Q: Some of your songs -- "The Journey," "You Saved My Life" and "Belly Dancer" -- sound like they might be about Jesus. Are you religious?

A: I guess I am spiritual. I believe in God. But those songs you mentioned, well, "You Saved My Life" is really a song about my son and wife.

Q: That was my second choice.

A: Yeah. I'd still be an emotional tadpole flopping in the stream without them. I was raised Roman Catholic and went to Catholic school for five years. But that's a whole other interview. I'll have to write a book about that.

Q: Has anyone mentioned you look like an alien on your album cover because of the shaved head and sunglasses?

A: I think that's just art imitating art. When I started out I was still growing hair, and somewhere in the middle of my solo career I had a hair- follicle deficit and had to seek out a new way to maintain a look. People always thought I did that on purpose, but it's just the plight of a guitar player trying to come out with something maintainable while he's touring across the country.

Q: What's the funniest hairstyle you can remember having?

A: They were all terrible. The day I shaved my head I said, "Finally, it's over!" I didn't want to be that guy who wears the baseball hat all the time. Always embrace your age. It's about the music, not the hair.

Q: Are there days you wake up and say, "Forget the guitar. I'm going to play the drums from now on"?

A: Well, you've never heard me play drums. There's a great drummer up in my head full of ideas, but I'm missing 10 percent of the coordination a real drummer needs.

Q: You usually play the national anthem for the San Francisco Giants and 49ers, but this year you played on opening day of the Major League Baseball season for the Oakland A's. Don't you have any loyalty?

A: As you can tell, I have none.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.